Intersections of women’s identities in professional accountancy careers

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to explore intersectional gender inequalities that exist in accounting organizations. Design/methodology/approach A review of the literature, covering the period from 1990 to 2020, assesses the intersectionality of professional and social factors that shape inequalities in women’s professional accounting careers. Findings This study presents the complex facets of women’s inequality in gendered accounting organizations. The results reveal that inequity persists in accounting organizations despite organizational changes. The findings highlight the relevance of further research in gendered organizations to capture the intersectionality of gender with other forms of inequality. Practical implications This review informs professional organizations, accountants and company managers about the persistence of gender concerns in the accountancy profession in the last 30 years, despite stated accounting profession commitments to achieve gender equality, as promoted by United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Moreover, some possible solutions are proposed. Originality/value This study focuses on a complex and challenging issue, contributing to the literature by extending classical narrative literature. This study presents a structured view of the various intersections of professional and social characteristics that created inequalities and the suggested solutions.

Perceptions and experiences of career success among aspiring and early career accountants and the role of organisational support

“…The finding that male ECAs were more likely to report achieving career success than their female counterparts reflects Greguletz et al's (2019) conception of ‘gendered modesty’, denoting how women may underestimate their own value and achievement of success compared to their male counterparts. It may also reflect persistent inequalities in accounting organisations, which can constrain females' career progression (Cullen & Christopher, 2012; Tiron‐Tudor & Faragalla, 2022), and the importance of flexible work practices, as evidenced in Whiting's (2008) study of the New Zealand accounting profession. Likewise, the finding that older ECAs (i.e., those above 40 years) reported achieving significantly higher levels of success than their counterparts between 20 and 29 years, reflects existent literature on observed differences between older and younger age cohorts and reported career success (Hakhmigari et al, 2019).…”

Finding a fit between CXO’s experience and AI usage in CXO decision-making: evidence from knowledge-intensive professional service firms

“…AI refers to a system that can reason and learn to imitate human intelligence, particularly in repetitive, rule-based tasks, with greater precision, speed and cost savings (Tiron-Tudor and Deliu, 2022). AI is now a practical reality (Rodrigues et al.…”

“…, 2019). For example, Deloitte uses Argus, a cloud-based audit platform that revolutionizes document interrogation and interpretation by giving its audit team the power of hundreds of “virtual eyes” (Tiron-Tudor and Deliu, 2022). The AI system can function as an assistant or critic, provide a second opinion, act as an expert consultant and tutor and automate the entire process (Cao et al.…”

“…, 2016). Data uploading, cleaning, processing and analysis, audit planning, risk assessments, audit tests and procedures, audit working papers, files and documentation are just a few examples of jobs in which algorithms may perform better than humans (Tiron-Tudor and Deliu, 2022). On the other hand, most business decisions require ethical judgement (Dissanayake, 2021), which follows socially accepted norms; hence, decisions cannot solely be based on algorithms (Khalil, 1993).…”

“…AI adoption in the workplace often deploys algorithmic data analytics and automation of tasks and processes using machine learning (ML) to improve decision-making with little or no human intervention (Bader and Kaiser, 2019; Dear, 2019). Latest developments in AI are revolutionizing managerial functions, such as auditing services (Tiron-Tudor and Deliu, 2022), portfolio management (Huang and Rust, 2018), automated trade in financial markets (Ivanov, 2022) and aspects of people management (Budhwar et al. , 2022; Malik et al.…”